Japan’s Idemitsu to stop crude refining at Tokuyama CDU in 2014

01 November 2011 09:07[Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS)--?xml:namespace>Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan plans to stop processing crude oil at its 120,000 bbl/day crude distillation unit (CDU) at Tokuyama permanently in March 2014 as part of its supply system restructuring plan, the company said on Tuesday.

After terminating the unit, the refiner plans to use the Tokuyama factory as a logistics base for its petroleum products businesses and make its petrochemical businesses more competitive internationally, Idemitsu Kosan said in a statement.

The company also plans to expand its receiving and shipping facilities for petrochemical products at the same site in order to accept larger vessels, it said, without providing further details.

Idemitsu Kosan, which is Japan’s largest refiner, operates a 623,000 tonne/year cracker at Tokuyama and produces other petrochemical products including benzene, toluene, paraxylene (PX) and styrene monomer (SM).